New Film Based On Story of Privacy Rights Pioneer Bill Baird In Development

The story of the now-forgotten but profoundly influential pioneer of the modern birth control rights movement in the United States is the subject of a new feature project in development by Branded Pictures Entertainment (BPE) and Corstoria. Tentatively titled "Privacy," the film will focus on activist Bill Baird, whose successful 1972 "Eisenstadt v. Baird" Supreme Court case legalized birth control for single people nationwide, and solidified privacy as a constitutionally protected right.

"Privacy" revives the story of the single most quoted case in Supreme Court history, cited over 50 times and serving as the basis for 1973's "Roe v. Wade," legalizing abortion, and more recently, "Lawrence v. Texas," legalizing gay sex nationwide. That those rights are once again under attack adds urgency to telling Baird's story.

"This is a cinematic tale and a compelling character study of a man physically and emotionally abused from all sides who, despite living under constant threat of violence and who was arrested eight times in five states, sacrificed everything in a single-minded pursuit of getting the U.S. government out of Americans' bedrooms," BPE Founder and CEO J. Todd Harris says.

Jameson Rich, director of development for Corstoria, adds "As a millennial who's frustrated and frightened at the current shift in our national discourse and political direction, I believe that Bill's story is a timely, instructive example of how one individual can affect social change. It will resonate with audiences across generations."

Baird, an advisor to the project, was a medical school dropout and pharmaceutical contraceptive company clinical director who was catalyzed into action when he was making a routine call to Harlem Hospital and witnessed the death of a woman from a self-attempted coat hanger abortion. The mother of 9 died in his arms.

"I vowed then," Baird says, "to help my fellow poor gain access to the same rights and care that the wealthy were able to get back when only women of means could get birth control and family planning services. That moment changed me from a bystander to an activist. Now that I see our hard-won gains under threat once again, I'm hopeful that this story will inspire the next generation to action."

Baird, who was jailed and faced a 10-year term for showing a can of contraceptive foam to a campus lecture audience - and who's been crucified equally by conservatives for promoting "crimes against chastity" and by the Second-Wave Feminist Movement for being "a man fighting for a woman's issue" - is currently working on his memoir. Corstoria, a start-up media company, optioned those rights to develop the script for "Privacy."

"This story needs to be told with great sensitivity toward incorporating both female and male perspectives,' Corstoria President David Rich notes. "We're being purposeful in pursuing that same balance of partnership in building the production team for this movie. We see this as an essential component of telling this important story successfully."

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